The invention relates to a semi-rigid blister packaging unit for articles such as razors, articles of personal use and the like.
Conventionally, packaging units for articles, also known as blister packs, are made from two (upper and lower) plastic material walls or foils. These walls are relatively stiff synthetic sheets, with a heat seal weld along the major peripheral edges or indeed surrounding the entire periphery. Representative of these are packs shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,241 (Althaus); U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,066 (Grange) and U.S. Design Pat. No. 352,236 (Althaus). Blister packs are also known to have a plastic blister front and a cardboard rear wall, the plastic front being glued lo the cardboard, which is opened when the user peels the two halves away from one another, or pulls back a perforated flap or panel on the cardboard back wall. Representative of these are packs shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,691 (Iten); U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,417 (Iten et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,194 (Iten); U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,245 (Mullen); and U.S. Designs Pat. No. 253,167 (Fournier et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 253,040 (Fournier et al.).
Other packs are known in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,934 (Hagner); U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,942 (Decarie et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,112 (Dunklee); U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,552 (Brown); European Patent Application EP 452 052 A (Oscar Meyer Foods Corp.); French Patent 2 334 273 (Carl M. Spielware KG); and French Application 2 410 611 (General Foods).
Applicant has recognized that various disadvantages of these known blister packs include they are frequently difficult to open, usually requiring scissors or considerable force, or do not allow easy access to the article within, which is inconvenient for the user.